Tried a 000 blade on a bald fade and it left tracks everywhere

I was doing a head shave for a client in Austin last Tuesday and grabbed my Andis Master with a 000 blade instead of my usual foil shaver. Figured it would be smoother but it left these little lines all over the back of his head. Had to break out the trimmer and fix it for an extra 15 minutes. Anyone else made that mistake with a blade that's too fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma3491mo ago

Expanding on what Nancy said about tension - I've found that even the quarter turn trick isn't always enough. On some clippers the blade sits slightly crooked from the factory, so you gotta check if the blade is flush against the base plate before you even touch the screws. I spent a whole afternoon with a 000 on a pair of Wahl Seniors and realized the left side was just barely lifted off the clipper body. Took a tiny shim from a soda can strip to level it out, and suddenly the tracking disappeared completely. If you're still seeing lines after tightening, try pressing the blade flat and see if the gap under one corner is bigger than the other.

nancy_green1mo ago

Actually, the 000 blade on Andis Masters is a 30 gauge, which is actually a pretty wide tooth spacing compared to a 0000 or a 40 blade. I had a barber mentor back in 2019 who explained that those tracks usually happen when the blade is too fine but the real issue is the blade tension is off or the lever isn't set right. I messed around with mine for a whole weekend and found that tightening the blade a tiny bit, like a quarter turn on the screws, got rid of most of the tracking.